Originally Posted by
brillb
So from the "Facts" thread I think I'm understanding the AA "upgrade within tier" priority rule... primarily based on date/time of requesting the upgrade.
I figured I'd move over here to ask... can anyone speculate on why this system is beneficial to AA? It seems to drive a behavior that, if anything, results in lower revenue (buying tickets early, and in the cheapest bucket available assuming you're not buying Y/B)?
Not quite primarily, no. The priority hierarchy has been (adapted from the FT AAdvantage FAQ):
1) Elite status tier
2) Connecting status – passengers connecting from another flight receive higher priority
3) Fare class – passengers traveling on full Y/B fares receive higher priority over other fares
4) Time of upgrade request – when you click the ‘Request Upgrade’ box on AA.com
--N.B. of course that's effectively time of booking for most members
No guarantees of course on whether this will change.
It's certainly not been set in stone historically. For instance, for quite some period your check-in time was the most important non-tier factor in your gate list priority.